Pages

Monday, April 7, 2014

Buddha on His Teaching as a Raft

“I shall show you, monks, the Teaching’s
similitude to a raft: as having the purpose of crossing over, not the purpose of being clung to.
Listen, monks, and heed well what I shall say.”

“Yes, Blessed One,” replied the monks.

And the Blessed One spoke thus: “Suppose, monks,
there is a man journeying on a road and he sees a vast expanse of water, of which
this shore is perilous and fearful, while the other shore is safe and free from
danger. But there is no boat for crossing nor is there a bridge for going over from
this side to the other. So the man thinks: ‘This is a vast expanse of water;
and this shore is perilous and fearful, but the other shore is safe and free
from danger. There is, however, no boat here for crossing, nor a bridge for
going over from this side to the other. Suppose I gather reeds, sticks,
branches and foliage, and bind them into a raft.’ Now, that man collects reeds,
sticks, branches and foliage, and binds them into a raft. Carried by that raft,
labouring with hands and feet, he safely crosses over to the other shore.
Having crossed and arrived at the other shore, he thinks: ‘This raft, indeed,
has been very helpful to me. Carried by it, labouring with hands and feet, I
got safely across to the other shore. Should I not lift this raft on my head or
put it on my shoulders, and go where I like?’

“What do you think about it, O monks? Will this
man by acting thus, do what should be done with a raft?”

“No, Blessed One”

“How then, monks, would he be doing what should
be done with a raft? Here, monks, having got across and arrived at the other
shore, the man thinks: ‘This raft, indeed, has been very helpful to me. Carried
by it, and labouring with hands and feet, I got safely across to the other
shore. Should I not pull it up now to the dry land or let it float in the
water, and then go as I please?’ By acting thus, monks, would that man do what
should be done with a raft?

“In the same way, monks, have I shown to you the
Teaching’s similitude to a raft: as having the purpose of crossing over, not the purpose of
being clung to.

“You, O monks, who understand the Teaching’s
similitude to a raft, you should let go even (good) teachings, how much more false ones!”

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Yes, all The Buddha ever talked about was letting go, non attachment, because this is the only way to avoid dukkha.

It is a pity that there are so many non-Buddhist monks who attach to rules, rites, and rituals like their life depended upon it, and who don't want other monks to stay in their temples because they 'might' be bad monks who don't attach so much (out of politeness I won't mention the sect).

Yes, attaching to rules & rituals is detrimental to the awakening process, as is evidenced in the fact that such an attitude is described as being one of the fetters blocking entry to noble-being (ariya-puggala). However, in the raft simile, Buddha isn't saying that we shouldn't think, speak & do good things, but that we shouldn't attach to them. Doing good is clearly better than doing bad, as the latter is a barrier to awakening whether we attach to it or not. Doing good without attachment is the way that Buddha taught. It's a subtle but important distinction.